Kauai

Feb 22, 2025

We had breakfast at the Kountry Kitchen, again. I had the 2 eggs with Portuguese sausage while Sophon had the Spam Loco Moco.

We both enjoy trying and learning about new foods, so we headed to the Hanalei farmer’s market which had locally grown produce, baked goods, and arts and crafts.   On a previous trip, we discovered the Ice Cream bean and yes, it tastes like ice cream.   Earlier in the week, we saw a golden fruit shaped like a tear drop.   We learned it was called egg fruit, but its official name was yellow sapote.  We bought a couple along with an ice cream bean and were told to let the egg fruit fully ripen and it would taste like Butterscotch pudding.

There was a local bakery that we had passed and as if we did not have a big enough breakfast, we purchased a couple of pastries and found an area to sit down and eat. I could have sat there all day and taken in the view! Continue reading →

Na Pali Coast

Feb 21, 2025

This has to be the highlight of the trip as well as one of my top travel highlights of all time.  The Na Pali Coast sits on the Northwest side of the Island of Kauai and unless you are a hiker, it can only be access by sea or air.   Over the years, I have booked a lot of sails to the Na Pali coast only to have them cancelled due to unpredictable weather.

The Na Poli Coast has been featured in many films and immediately recognizable.   If you have seen Jurassic Park, Tropic Thunder, King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pirates of the Caribbean or Six Days, Seven Nights you have seen the Na Pali Coast.   I doubt there are any Hawaii themed calendars without a picture of the Na Pali coast.

I booked my trip with Captain Andy’s. They had a lot of great online reviews, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Traffic on the Island can be unpredictable.  We arrived in Port Allen a bit early.   We checked in and hung out until it was time to board the double catamaran. Continue reading →

Spouting Horn

Feb 20, 2025

We continued driving around the Island and headed through the tree tunnel and to Spouting Horn, a blowhole.  As we headed to it, the narrator on the guide along app told the story about how the coastline was guarded by a giant lizard who would eat anyone who tried to fish or swim in the area.  A young boy outwitted the lizard by jumping into the sea and then swimming under the lava rocks escaping through the hole. The giant lizard followed and got stuck in it. The roar and water is from the lizard.

It is something to hear as well as see.  It was almost comical that when I pulled the camera out, the spouts didn’t seem to be nearly as dramatic and when I put the camera away, there would suddenly be a huge one.  It was as if it knew that it was being photographed and wasn’t cooperating! Continue reading →

Wailua Falls

Feb 20, 2025

We had breakfast at the Kountry Kitchen which we had discovered on a previous trip.  It has become our favorite breakfast place on Kauai.  It is a popular spot, we got there as it opened, so we were seated right away but as we left, I noticed there was a waitlist.

We headed out on our first driving tour.   When we were in Banf, we tried an app called “Guide Along” which acts as a private guide.   I was surprised at how well it worked and bought the Kauai tour.   It detects your location, gives you driving instructions while giving you a tour.  You cannot ask any questions, but you are on your own schedule instead of being back on the bus at a specific time.

We started by going driving to Opaekaa Falls in the Wailua State Park.  We then headed to Wailua Falls which were made famous by the 1970s show “Fantasy Island”.  The opening sequence featured the falls right before the plane would fly by and Tattoo announcing it.

We then headed to Lihue and stopped for Saimin which was very good before heading to Poipu to see the Spouting Horn. Continue reading →

Sheraton Kauai Resort

Feb 19, 2025

We were up at 4:30 AM to get ready for our 8:40 AM flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Maui (OGG) on United and then continue on Hawaiian Airlines to Lihue (LIH) in Kauai.  As much as I like avoiding the traffic into LAX, I find that when I get up that early, I spend most of the day feeling exhausted and I have been able to sleep well on an airplane.

As we boarded our flight, the flight attendants were all wearing fake leis and flowers.  It reminded me of my first flight to Hawaii, at least they aren’t wearing polyester muumuus like they used to.   Early in my career, I was assigned a six-week project in Hawaii and every week, I went from Kaui to Maui and then back to Kaui again. I felt very fortunate to have been put on that project, I could have just as easily been assigned a project in Chicago during the middle of winter.

When my parents retired, I cashed in my miles to get them tickets to Hawaii, and I went along with them.  We stopped in Oahu and then headed to Kauai.  It was a special trip, and Kauai will always be my favorite Island and now that I am older, I don’t mind that everything closes at 8:00 PM and there isn’t much night life.  I was looking forward to driving around the island and appreciating the beauty.

When we arrived in Maui, my first thought was that the airport looked the same as it did the first time I flew to Maui and when we landed in Kauai, I had the same thought.   As we drove up to the hotel, I realized that we had stayed at this Sheraton hotel about five years before.  As we checked in, I asked and they said that they were a Marriott Courtyard and a few years back, they rebranded the hotel as a Sheraton resort.   I am not sure I would call it a resort, but it was located in Lihue where I wanted to spend a few days before going on to Princeville.

October 30th, 2017

The day of the helicopter we decided to watch the sunrise.  I noticed that we weren’t on the side of the Island to get good sunsets so we decided to watch the sunrise.   We weren’t the only ones. I think most of the hotel was up and there was even a  Hawaiian Ceremony going on where they blew the conch shell to welcome the day.   There was no need for a conch shell, there are a lot of wild roosters and chickens on the Island, they made sure daybreak was announced early in the morning every day.

Beside the helicopter tour the rest of the day was spent hanging around, taking pictures and of course eating.   We stopped at a bakery and got macadamia nut sticky buns and lilikoi (passion fruit) shortcake cookies.  We visited Opaekaa falls while revisiting a couple of places we had stopped before hoping to get a better pictures with better light.  It rained a lot on this visit but overall, pretty fortunate. Continue reading →

October 30th, 2017

I did a helicopter tour when I went to Kauai with my parents.  My mother refused to go on the helicopter,  I thought it was one of the best things I have every done.   Most of the Island is Inaccessible by car and this was a great way to see it.  When I decided to come back to Kauai, the top thing on the “things I want to do” list was a helicopter tour.  Having taken Helicopters tours in NYC and Hawaii, I didn’t want to get stuck in a middle seat making it difficult to see things much less getting good pictures.   I found Mauna Loa Helicopter tours that offered private tours in smaller helicopters.    They also offered a “doors off” option but I couldn’t convince Sophon.

Kauai is the most filmed Island.  “Raiders of the last Ark”, Jurassic Park”, “Pirates of the Caribbean”,  “Avatar”, “King Kong”, and of course there were all the old Elvis movies and “South Pacific”.  Of all the Hawaiian Islands, I think it is the prettiest.  I loved every minute of the tour – waterfalls, valleys and that Na Pali Shore.

I will probably be revising this page, I have video and a lot of pictures which will take me a lot of time to sort through. I decided that I should set something out there while moving on the Hawaiian Food and Wine Festival in Waikiki.  Here are a handful of pictures.

Waimea Canyon

October 29th, 2017

We arrived at Waimea Canyon late afternoon.   Although it is said that Mark Twain named it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, Mark Twain never set foot on Kauai.  It is not nearly as deep or long as the real Grand Canyon, but it is just as impressive to see.  Of all the things I thought I might see and find in Hawaii, this was never on the list.   We tried stopping at Kalalau lookout and I was disappointed, the fog made it impossible to see more than five feet.  I pulled out my cell phone and showed Sophon a picture of what we could not see.  Overall, we lucked out with the weather, there was only one thing we didn’t get to see.   On the way back, we stopped to admire the red dirt.   I wonder if Mars looks like this.

October 29th, 2017

After Fern Grotto, it was a drive through the tree tunnel as we headed to Poipu.  I was glad to see that the tunnel was still there.  This densely green corridor is fun to drive through and pictures do not do it justice.   We stopped at Spouting horn for a few pictures, ate lunch and then headed on to our next stop – The Kauai Coffee Company.  Located on the coffee plantation, the Kauai Coffee Company offers tastings along with tours of the plantations. It was a fun stop

The tree tunnel

Spouting Horn

Kauai Coffee Company

Coffee Plants

Coffee Beans

October 29, 2017

Had breakfast at the Kountry Style Kitchen in Kapaa and loved it.   Sophon got the Loco Moco which is traditional Hawaiian breakfast with eggs, rice, a beef patty topped with gravy.  I had eggs Benedict.   Not exactly a healthy way to start the day but it was good.  It was a great breakfast place and I loved it when they delivered the check in a SPAM can.

I had pulled up the weather on the Internet and had watched the morning news and everything said rain.  I was so glad that the weatherman were wrong, we headed out to see Fern Grotto.  We first stopped at a Wailua overlook and then Opeaka falls before heading to catch our tour to the Fern Grotto.

As I drove around,  I found myself thinking about memory and how strange it can be, there are things I remember in great detail and then there are gaps.  I remember being here with my parents decades ago, I remember waiting at the front of the line to board our boat, I remember my mom commenting on how the concept of queuing in line is not universals and varies across the different cultures.   She also commented on how some cultures are pushier than others.  I remember that level of detail yet I could not remember what the boat looked like or if there were entertainers on the boat like there was this morning.  I guess that is one reason I tend to write about my trips. Continue reading →